Valentine's Day on Atlantis
by IzzieStar
Summary: When John hears that Caldwell is taking Elizabeth to the Valentine's Ball unexpected emotions begin to stir for both of them.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

John carried his food tray over to a table occupied by Teyla, Ronon and Rodney and threw it down as he saw it was covered in hand cut love hearts. He sat down with a brief smile to his team and began eating. After a short time he picked up one of the love hearts and eyed it.

'I wish I had enough spare time to waste on stuff like this.' John said.

'You telling me? I was up until 2am reconfiguring one of the generators. And I have a cold.' Rodney complained.

'You should get down to the infirmary with that.' John replied sarcastically.

'I believe it is a great gesture the effort that is going into this evening.' Teyla chipped in.

'A great waste of time more like.' Rodney murmured.

'I don't know what you're complaining about – you have a date.' John pointed out.

'Are you kidding me? The great Kirk doesn't have a date. I'm suddenly quite keen to show my face.' Rodney said rubbing his hands.

'Alright, alright. There've been offers, just nobody I fancy spending the evening with.' John said defensively.

'Why not?' Ronon asked.

'I don't know – there's something very needy about most of the women here – probably just missing home but it's not my scene.' John shrugged.

'No, you prefer to chase after ascended women.' Rodney said with his mouth half full.

'Rodney.' Teyla said with a warning look.

Steven Caldwell walked into the room wearing a polo shirt and jeans – certainly not his usual Daedalus uniform and smiled at Sheppard's team, joining them at their table. He took a swig from the coffee he had brought with him and picked up one of the love hearts.

'I trust you'll all be going to the Valentine's ball tonight?' He asked.

'Yes. I am excited to see this tradition of your people.' Teyla said.

Caldwell smiled at her kindly, causing Ronon to bluntly state, 'She's with me.'

'How nice for you both – as long as it doesn't affect your work for the team.'

Ronon angrily stood up and kissed Teyla on the cheek before picking up his tray and walking off. Teyla suspected she would find him sparring when she had finished her own lunch. Feeling incredibly awkward a glance passed between John and Rodney before they returned to eating their food.

'You didn't answer my question men – will you be going tonight?' Caldwell asked, turning his attention to John and Rodney.

'Yes, I'll be going. I'm taking my girlfriend Katie.' Rodney smugly answered.

'I'm not quite decided.' John said with a grimace.

'Why not? Surely you must have girls queuing up to go with you.' Caldwell said eying John curiously.

'Well there have been offers, but to be frank I'd rather take on a hive ship single handed than spend the evening eating love heart burgers and dancing to 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'. I didn't really have it down as the sort of thing you'd enjoy either.' John said to Caldwell.

'Normally it isn't, but I happen to be taking somebody very special.' Caldwell said mysteriously.

Rodney's attention suddenly perked up from his jello and Caldwell had both of their undivided attention, and he was fully aware of it.

'Who is it? Somebody off Daedalus or Atlantis?' Rodney asked eagerly.

'Atlantis.'

'Who?' Rodney persisted.

'Elizabeth.' Caldwell said simply, playing with the rim of his cup.

'Elizabeth, Elizabeth Weir?' John asked.

'Yes.'

John felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach but passed it off as fear for his military position on Atlantis if Caldwell was dating Elizabeth. Without realising it, his body stiffened slightly and closed away from Caldwell. Teyla and Rodney were both staring at Caldwell with their mouths formed into small 'o' shapes.

'I should probably be going. See you tonight.' Caldwell said with a nod of the head.

Teyla looked at her colleagues and raised her eyebrows, 'I must admit I am quite shocked.'

'Elizabeth and Caldwell! That just doesn't make sense.' Rodney said looking perplexed.

'You can say that again.' John said watching Caldwell leave.

'I am going to find Ronon. I can let him know of Doctor Weir's news.' Teyla said leaving the table.

John nodded at her but couldn't quite find it in himself to smile. On the occasions when he'd pondered the sort of man Elizabeth would be attracted to the older, more serious man hadn't been top of the list. He wasn't even good looking, John thought to himself. Elizabeth could have gone with most of the guys on Atlantis – he would have taken her himself if he realised she'd end up going with Caldwell. A creeping sense of regret began envelope him that he hadn't asked her himself – on a platonic basis of course.

'Sheppard? Sheppard? John?' Rodney said impatiently.

'Huh? What?'

'You could at least pretend to listen to me.'

'Sorry, what were you saying?' John said.

'If Elizabeth is, you know, all relaxed and happy with Caldwell, then maybe I can persuade her to let me develop a stable power source linked directly to the chair.' Rodney said eagerly.

'You're talking about the idea which Elizabeth has turned down seventeen times on last count?'

'Well, I was hoping to get her a bit drunk first.'

John rolled his eyes to himself whilst Rodney informed him of the benefits of his experiment once again. Hurrying his lunch to escape Rodney's eagerness he quickly stood up and made his excuses leaving Rodney looking slightly crestfallen. Once out of the canteen he pondered his options – if everybody else was going this evening he should probably take up one of those offers. Or skip it all together. Although he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on Caldwell that way. No, he'd definitely be going to that ball tonight, it was just a case of finding a partner who wouldn't get swept away by the idea of Valentine's Day. After walking through the city for a while, he decided that he'd ask to go with one of the engineers from the control room who'd asked him four days ago – she was fairly attractive and didn't seem like the sort of woman who was looking for a relationship.

The first person he saw as he walked into the control room was Hannah Baker, another girl who had asked him to accompany her to the ball. He smiled at her and walked past her quickly to avoid having to turn her down again. When he reached his prospective date for the evening he gave her a slow smile.

'Hey, look I know I said I'd get back to you a few days ago about tonight, but I've been pretty busy. Does the offer still stand?' He asked confidently.

'Umm, I'm sorry Colonel, I assumed you didn't want to go, so I kind of accepted Chuck's offer.' She said turning a deep shade of red.

John turned to look at Chuck who gave him an awkward smile which he returned before turning to leave the control room.

'What are you doing here John?' Elizabeth asked as she walked into control room.

He hadn't noticed her and felt a slightly awkward after just being turned down. 'Just making a few arrangements for this evening.'

'You're going with Courtney?' Elizabeth asked looking over his shoulder at the girl.

'Well, she asked me a few days ago and I never really got back to her so now she's going with Chuck.'

Elizabeth nodded and smiled, 'Holding out for somebody else?'

'No, I just wasn't sure if I'd have the time. Paperwork...' He said hesitantly.

'Paperwork?' Elizabeth asked with an amused look.

'Anyway, it sounds like you've got yourself a hot date.' John said turning the tables.

'Caldwell?' Elizabeth looked surprised, 'It's not exactly a hot date! Actually, I'm pretty sure the only reason he's asked me is to persuade me into accepting some of his military ideas – which of course I won't.' Elizabeth added seeing John's face.

'You could always come with me.' John said nonchalantly.

'Hmm, tempting, but I don't think Caldwell would be so cooperative if I stood him up for you of all people.'

'Might stop him strutting round like he owns the place though.' John said cheekily.

'I'll see you tonight.' Elizabeth said, smiling despite herself.

Relieved that the date between Elizabeth and Caldwell was nothing other than work related, John decided that there was no point looking for a date – most women would already have been paired up for the night anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

John changed into the only suit he had brought with him – navy blue and rather cheap because of the discreet tear in the lining. For several minutes he fretted over whether he should wear a tie or not, eventually deciding not to in the hope he would appear more relaxed and, well, attractive to the opposite sex. His mind briefly wandered to what Caldwell would be wearing, but shut the thought out as he realised he was late.

On his way to the canteen he noticed a few appreciative glances in his direction but only replied with brief smiles, not having the time to stop and talk. Strangely, he felt quite nervous – nothing with such romantic connotations had occurred on Atlantis before, mainly due to Elizabeth's strict regulations. When he had heard that Elizabeth had agreed to allow the Valentine's Ball he had been one of the most surprised.

The room was lit with fairy lights and covered in red drapes, with rose petals spread delicately over the tables – it was quite romantic and it was almost a shame he didn't have anybody to share this with. A few couples were dancing in the middle of the room to the drones of 'Three Times a Lady'. When he spotted Rodney and Carson with their dates he made his way over to them.

'Hey.' John said sitting down.

'No date?' Rodney asked.

'No date.'

'Shame.' Rodney said, looking as though he believed the exact opposite.

'I'm sure there'll be women on their own too.' Carson said kindly.

'I think I'll be okay on my own,' John said, taking a glass of champagne from the middle of the table. 'Lovely.' He said with a grimace.

'Aye, it's not the best.' Carson said.

'Rodney would you stop looking for Elizabeth and forget about work – just for one night.' Katie Brown said pleadingly.

'I just wanted to run a few ideas past – okay, okay.' Rodney said seeing the look in Katie's eye.

John looked round as he saw his group of friends smile past him – Teyla and Ronon had appeared. Teyla was wearing full Athosian celebration wear and Ronon was, rather amusingly, wearing a tie which he was grumpily loosening from his neck. Between their bodies, their hands were entwined and John smiled to himself to see two of his closest friends looking so happy together.

'How are you all?' Teyla asked.

'Fine – John hasn't got a date.' Rodney said excitedly.

'Can we drop the whole 'John hasn't got a date thing'?' John asked feeling irritated.

'Come and dance with me.' Katie said to Rodney.

'Dance? Oh no, no, no, no, I don't dance.' Rodney said looking positively terrified.

'Everybody dances.' Katie laughed as she pulled up Rodney who submitted with a last pleading look.

'Has anybody got a camera?' Carson asked.

'Why would anybody bring a camera to this?' Ronon asked.

'When our people celebrate, we bring cameras along so you can never forget the embarrassing memories.' John said.

'Why?' Ronon asked, still looking confused.

'Pretty much what John said; memories.' Laura Cadman said with a shrug.

Ronon turned his attention to Teyla and whispered something in her ear which made her blush slightly. John looked away, pretending not to have noticed and was met with the eyes of Caldwell. To Caldwell's right was Elizabeth who looking quite...stunning. Even John was surprised – obviously he was aware his boss was an attractive lady, but wow. Her body was cloaked in a tight, strapless, red knee-length dress which revealed one of her shapely legs through a slit and she was wearing her hair up, with loose curls dropping seductively round her face. When Elizabeth saw John her face lit up and she led Caldwell over to his table.

'Mind if we join you?' Elizabeth asked.

'Of course no. You look great.' John said.

'Doesn't she?' Caldwell said smiling intimately at her.

John wanted to punch Caldwell for the obvious pleasure he was getting from being in such close proximity to Elizabeth, but fought the urge with the knowledge that Elizabeth wasn't interested in him.

'It's nice to see you relaxing Elizabeth.' Carson said.

'It's nice to be relaxing Carson.' Elizabeth said taking a glass of champagne and raising it to the group – a gesture which they returned.

Elizabeth's arrival had sparked Rodney attention and he soon marched through fellow dancers with a disappointed Katie Brown in tow. He sat directly across from Elizabeth and lifted the champagne bottle to refill a surprised Elizabeth's glass, then returned the bottle without offering anybody else a refill.

'Dr Weir, you look lovely.' Katie said as she took her seat next to Rodney.

'Thank you. I was beginning to think I'd never put this dress to use.' She laughed shyly.

'And it's great that you finally got the opportunity.' The group stared at Rodney, 'Because it's a nice dress – not because you look nice. Although obviously you do look nice.' He said hurriedly.

'What do you want?' Elizabeth asked with a raised eyebrow.

'Me? Nothing. Nothing at all.' Rodney said with a laugh.

'Rodney.' Elizabeth said warningly.

'Nothing! Why don't we go and dance again Katie?' Rodney asked and unexpectedly grabbed her hand, taking her away from his embarrassment.

'That was strange.' Elizabeth said.

'Can you blame him in the presence of such a beautiful woman?' Caldwell asked smoothly.

Elizabeth looked completely taken aback by Caldwell's manner and swigged from her champagne glass. It was becoming increasingly clear that the date between them was more than work related – to Caldwell anyway.

The evening passed relatively quietly with only a few surprise pairings taking to the floor such as Zelenka in a floral print shirt and a rather attractive Lieutenant from Lorne's team called Naomi. Rodney had stood on Katie's foot once too often and they had departed the floor and taken a table of their own. John was beginning to feel rather mellow with the effects of cheap champagne and warm air, and was even managing to make small talk to Caldwell after Ronon had been persuaded by Teyla to 'take some fresh air', and Carson was waltzing with Cadman. Conversation didn't exactly flow with someone as serious with Caldwell but John barely noticed with alcohol pumping through his body. His manner with Elizabeth was also becoming more confident – something which Caldwell noticed.

'Come on Lizabeth, I've told you how many women I've slept with.' John said leaning forward.

'And frankly I'm still in shock!' Elizabeth laughed.

'Is this really appropriate?' Caldwell said sternly.

'Don't worry; he won't be getting a number out of me.' Elizabeth said.

'We had a deal Doctor Weir.' John pouted.

'And you didn't tell me it would be that personal – I told you all the other stuff!'

'Then you have to face the forfeit.' John warned.

'As long as it isn't too humiliating.' Elizabeth said diplomatically.

'Doctor Weir, would you care to dance with me?' John dared.

'That's my forfeit?' Elizabeth thought over the proposition for a second or so. 'Why not?'

Elizabeth stood up and accepted John's hand, swaying slightly from the vast amounts of alcohol consumed.

'I thought you said you didn't like dancing.' Caldwell said suspiciously.

'Well it is Valentine's Day.' John shrugged.

'And Elizabeth is my date.' Caldwell said warningly to John.

'It's just one dance, Steve.' Elizabeth said allowing John to take her away from Caldwell to the dance floor.

John slipped one arm around Elizabeth waist and his other into her petite hand of which the nails were painted a deep red and they slowly moved together to the notes of 'I Can't Help Falling in Love with You'. He smiled at her as he pulled her into his body and breathed in the scent of her perfume, the effect of which it had on him was rather surprising as he found himself fighting the urge to kiss her. Instead he rested his cheek against hers something which caused her to inhale deeply.

Smiling to himself, John asked, 'You okay?'

'Good. You?'

'Good.'

Nothing else needed to be said, so John resumed his concentration into the dance, intimately stroking Elizabeth's back with his thumb. Emotions were beginning to stir up within John that he hadn't previously experienced and he was very much aware of a longing deep inside of him to hold Elizabeth like this again and again.

'I think it's my turn.' It was Caldwell and he sounded far from amused.

John pulled apart from Elizabeth reluctantly and saw that Caldwell was looking pretty downright angry. Elizabeth looked at John with a confused expression on her face before being taken in hold by Caldwell as the notes of 'Close to You' began.

Slightly disgruntled, John walked away to the outskirts of the room, grabbing another glass of champagne as he went, and watched Elizabeth through the gaps of the bodies in front of him. It was pleasing to see the space between Caldwell and Elizabeth was far greater than the space that he had shared with her. Caldwell's hand lifted from Elizabeth's and brushed a stray strand of hair away from her eyes, before returning to take her hand. Despite an initial surge of annoyance, John managed to steady himself by finishing his glass of champagne.

As the song played out Elizabeth's eyes met John's from time to time, but hurriedly returned to Caldwell's, an action which made John's stomach churn slightly. When the song reached its end Caldwell released Elizabeth from his arms and smiled intensely at her causing her to blush. As they made their way to one of the tables Elizabeth whispered something to Caldwell and hurriedly left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

John had expected Elizabeth to make a swift return to the ball, but after twenty minutes she was still absent from proceedings. He briefly wondered if there was a new threat to Atlantis or some sort of emergency but he would have been informed immediately and surely Caldwell would have escorted her had there been. No, there was definitely not an emergency on Atlantis; Elizabeth had left for her own reasons.

In the alcoholic confusion of sharing such intimacy with Elizabeth, John was desperate to see her once again – to flirt with her and charm her. Normally, John would never have thought of pursuing his boss, but the champagne was urging him otherwise and he had consumed rather a lot of it. Something which was beginning to take effect as he wobbled slightly as somebody knocked into him and he was beginning to feel sick. To steady himself he sat down, but only found that people brushing past him increased the nausea.

Alcohol had been sparse since the arrival on Atlantis and was hardly considered to be crucial supplies by the SGC, so the Valentine's Ball was, John realised, the first time he been permitted to enjoy more than one beer in a sitting for two years. Fresh air was what he needed – to give him the opportunity to sober up and clear his head.

On his way out of the ball he passed Caldwell who stepped slightly to the side, making it impossible for John to ignore him.

'Okay there Colonel?' Caldwell asked without a hint of concern.

'Fine. Colonel.' John growled.

'Doesn't look it. You should get yourself to your quarters before you undermine you position.' Caldwell said.

Niceties were clear off the agenda now Elizabeth was out of ear shot, and John walked past Caldwell without allowing himself to be provoked, knowing that Caldwell would have loved nothing more than to see John make a fool of himself in front of the whole city – with word getting back to Elizabeth eventually. Again his mind drifted to Elizabeth and how amazing she looked and how wonderful she felt in his arms. John, once again, thought of the dance that they had shared, it had felt _romantic_. Had she picked up on the feeling between them? Obviously she had danced much closer to him than Caldwell, but he had been the one that had initiated that.

John slid his hand over the control pad and the doors to the balcony of the gate room opened to reveal a view of Atlantis, lit up in all of its glory. Something caught the corner of his eyes behind the wall and he looked over. Elizabeth slowly appeared into full view.

'Thank God it's you – I thought you were Caldwell.' She said sounding relieved.

'You're not hiding from him, are you?' John asked with a smile.

Elizabeth cringed slightly, 'Yes, but don't tell anybody.'

'That's a shame. I was planning what to buy you for your wedding.' John said cheekily.

'Don't!' Elizabeth laughed.

John walked over to her and leaned over the edge, looking down into the ocean. There was something he wanted to ask Elizabeth, but didn't quite know how to word it without sounding impertinent. Elizabeth looked across at John and half smiled at him before looking out onto the city herself.

'It's beautiful at night.' Elizabeth said.

'Yeah.' John agreed.

Surreptitiously his eyes slid across to admire Elizabeth once again, and he suddenly asked, 'Why did you agree to go with Caldwell.'

If Elizabeth was surprised at the bluntness of the question she didn't show it. 'Because he asked, I suppose.'

'So you're not passionately in lust with him then?' John asked cheekily, trying to lighten the mood.

Elizabeth laughed, 'No, I am not passionately in lust with Colonel Caldwell. But if I change my mind, you'll be the first to know.' Elizabeth paused, 'I'm actually starting to regret it now – he seems to be taking the whole Valentine's Day thing seriously.'

'I could get Ronon to tell him to back off.' John suggested with a smile.

'I think I can handle my own thank you.' Elizabeth said with a laugh.

Taking great pleasure in seeing Elizabeth laughing and relaxed, John smiled to himself happy to have made her feel that way with him. He had noticed that she had been increasingly tired recently and her huge workload hardly permitted for much recreational time so John hadn't spoken to Elizabeth about anything much other than mission reports recently. Spending time with her, alone, was an unexpected surprise and he wanted to enjoy her company for as long as possible.

'So how did you end up without a date?' Elizabeth asked, not looking at him.

'Left it until the last minute and it turns out that people were quite eager to hook up with each other for the night.' John shrugged.

'Did you ask anybody?'

'I asked Courtney. After she asked me.'

'So that's a no.'

'Hey, that's not true – actually I did ask somebody, I asked you.' John pointed out smugly.

'That doesn't count – you already knew I was going with somebody and what was I? A last resort?' Elizabeth asked, not sounding in the least bit serious.

'Well I didn't know you'd be wearing such a revealing dress then.' John flirted.

Elizabeth slapped his arm, but was laughing indignantly. The words had tumbled from John's mouth without any thought process and John was relieved to see that Elizabeth had not been offended by what he had said. Although the fresh air had had a sobering effect, John was still feeling an increased confidence around Elizabeth with the temptation to kiss her becoming difficult to fight. He wondered if Elizabeth was experiencing the same desire as he was, and was satisfied with the knowledge that she had run away from Caldwell and was here standing on the balcony merely inches away from him. Her body suddenly turned so it was facing John's and he mirrored her position.

'I should go back.' Elizabeth said.

'You should.' John acknowledged, half daring her to stay.

'And you'll keep this quiet?' Elizabeth asked.

'Of course, although I do hope I'll be getting a reward.' John said innocently.

Elizabeth smiled, 'What sort of reward would you like Colonel?'

'There is something actually...'

John slowly leaned in to Elizabeth pausing just before her lips to look into her eyes. She hesitated slightly before leaning her own body towards John. Their lips brushed slightly and John felt the thump of his increasing heart rate.

From behind them the doors slid open and John guiltily pulled away from Elizabeth and turned around to see who had interrupted them. Caldwell. He stepped out onto the balcony with an annoyed glance at John before smiling at Elizabeth.

'I've been looking for you.' He said.

'I took some aspirin but I still wasn't feeling well so I came to get some air.' Elizabeth said apologetically.

'With Colonel Sheppard?' Caldwell asked, irritated.

'No. Colonel Sheppard saw me come this way and came to see if I was okay.' Elizabeth said without looking at John.

It hadn't passed by John that Elizabeth was now calling him 'Colonel Sheppard', but he nodded to support her story, not wanting to make things to awkward for her.

'I'm going to turn in for the night, would you like me to escort you back to your quarters?' Caldwell asked.

Elizabeth walked over to Caldwell and they left the balcony. As they walked through the doors, Elizabeth turned her head to John and met his eyes with an uncomfortable look before she turned away and the doors closed behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

John's initial reaction to seeing the sun streaming through his curtains was a painful groan. The morning light had caused him to close his eyes immediately, but he managed to sit up in his bed instantaneously causing every muscle in his body to ache. Knowing from the light that had filled his room that he was late for the morning briefing, John peered at his watch to decipher just how much trouble he would be in with Elizabeth. A lot. He was half an hour late.

Leaning out to reach his clothes, John began to recall what had happened the previous night. Clearly, he'd hadtoo much to drink which accounted for the state he was in. Actually he hadn't done much other than drink alcohol. Except come onto Elizabeth. For that moment when they were alone on that balcony, John had wanted nothing more than to feel the lips of Elizabeth Weir. Hastily checking his appearance, he tried to reason to himself that it was the alcohol that had made him act so impulsively – he'd never tried to come onto her before. Admittedly there had been occasions when they had been working late together and he had breathed in the scent of her shampoo leaving him with a similar yearning to the one he had felt before moving to kiss her, but the inappropriate thought had been pushed away and he tried not to dwell on it.

Walking to the briefing room, John recalled the almost-kiss he shared with Elizabeth again. She was about to kiss him too. Atlantis' leader had let down her guard and was tempted by her second in command. A small smile formed around John's lips as he recalled the scent of her perfume filling the air and the way she had leant in to kiss him.

Entering the briefing room, John was met by the frosty glares of his team and Elizabeth and Colonel Caldwell. He sat down in the empty seat across from Elizabeth and waited for the first sniping comment.

'Nice of you to join us Colonel Sheppard.' Caldwell said sarcastically, 'Any reason other than the obvious hangover that we've been waiting for nearly three quarters of an hour for your presence?'

'I overslept.' John said.

'Well I wish you'd told us – I was up at seven AM to make sure I got breakfast before this.' Rodney whined.

'How long does it take you to eat breakfast?' John asked confused as to why it had taken Rodney two hours to get breakfast before the meeting.

'I like to have a coffee whilst checking the computers before eating my –' Rodney began to explain.

'Gentleman!' Elizabeth cut in sounding exasperated. 'Can you have this discussion on your own time?'

'Sorry.' John said and Elizabeth looked away from him quickly.

'Right, let's get started/ Rodney has been looking over the Ancient databases and came across a planet which was visited frequently in the time leading up the Ancients departing Atlantis. There's not information about the planet, but we believe that there may be some data on that planet that can help us in our battle against the Wraith...'

'If they had this data then why didn't they use it?' John asked.

Elizabeth looked down at the sheets of paper in front of her and straightened them, 'That's what I'd like you and your team to find out.'

Since John had entered the room Elizabeth hadn't made eye contact with him even when she was speaking to him and, come to think of it, it was strange that she hadn't radioed him to find out why he was late.

'I want you and your team to be ready at the gate in one hour to investigate this planet on foot. I'll see you then.'

Looking tired and unwilling to embark on a mission his team left the room to get prepare for the mission. John considered staying behind to talk to Elizabeth but decided not to as he realised Caldwell wasn't going anywhere and he didn't really know what to say anyway.

After John had geared up for the mission he found that he had some time to spare and headed to Elizabeth's office to clear the air about what had happened between them. He had decided that the best thing to do was to say that he was drunk and didn't know what he was doing. Although even he wasn't convinced by what he was about to say.

Through the office door, John could see that Elizabeth had given up on her workload and was lying back on her chair with her eyes closed. John considered leaving and coming back later, but decided that doing so would only make it more awkward for him to approach her. Stepping forward, he knocked on the door lightly and she sat up in shock at being disturbed. Seeing that it was John who had witnessed her napping she blushed and pretended to check her paperwork.

'What can I do for you Colonel?' She asked.

There she goes with the 'Colonel' again, John thought darkly. 'Hey, I wanted to talk to you about last night. If you've got time.' John said nervously.

'Good. I was hoping to talk to you too.' Elizabeth said looking at him for the first time and giving him her work smile.

'Oh, okay. Well, go ahead.' John said going to sit on a chair facing Elizabeth.

After Elizabeth's reaction to him this morning, John had not expected her to want to talk about the previous night at all, and was thrown slightly off guard by her openness.

'I think we can both safely say last night was a success.' Elizabeth said, looking to him for agreement.

John looked back, confused. 'Sure.'

'And I'm glad that people feel that they can form strong relationships with one another.' Elizabeth said choosing her words carefully.

'Uh-huh.' John said, not really knowing what to say.

'So, I think it's about time that you and I have a conversation.' Elizabeth took a breath. 'I've noticed that Teyla and Ronon have been getting close recently, and last night only proved that they are seeing one another. So, I need your professional opinion on whether or not you think it would be a good idea for them both to continue work on your team.'

'Teyla and Ronon? You wanted to talk to me about Teyla and Ronon?' John asked feeling irritated.

'Why else would I want to talk to you, Colonel?' Elizabeth asked with a nervous laugh.

'Let me think, maybe, just maybe what happened between you and me last night.' John said angrily.

'I wasn't aware that anything had happened between us last night.' Elizabeth said.

'So that's how you're going to play this?'

John stood up and began pacing in front of the desk.

'Do we have a problem here Colonel?' Elizabeth asked coldly.

'Clearly if you won't even talk about it.' John said sarcastically.

Elizabeth sighed and picked up a pen. John watched her as she began writing something on the document in front of her. Irritated by her unshakeable manner he leaned over the desk so their heads were almost touching and he couldn't be ignored.

'We nearly kissed last night.'

Elizabeth stood up and turned her back on John to walk over to some ornaments on her shelves and stare at them. John stood and waited for a response. For several minutes she said nothing, so John fixed his eyes on her figure which had its back turned to him, making no movement other than the rise and fall of her shoulders with each breath.

'I was drunk John. There's nothing more to it.' The way she said it was slightly higher than her natural voice.

'So why won't you even look at me?'

Elizabeth turned to look at him with her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Under the intense scrutiny of her stare John shifted slightly and looked away from her before forcing himself to look back.

'It was a mistake.'

'And what if I tried to kiss you now?' John asked.

'Stop it.'

'Tell me.'

'What is this to you? Some exciting new challenge? Prove you can get the boss? I am fully aware of your reputation Colonel Sheppard and I'm not attracted to it. Or you.' Elizabeth said angrily.

'You know that you mean much more to me than some exciting new challenge. And frankly, Doctor Weir, I think you might be a little more attracted to me than you care to let on.'

'John – we can't even be having this conversation! If the IOA gets wind of this...' Elizabeth said.

'But it's okay for you to go on dates with Caldwell?'

Elizabeth gave him an annoyed look, 'We both know that I have no romantic interest in him – no matter what his intentions are.'

'Is that your diplomatic way of saying you have 'romantic interest' in me?' John asked, with a hint of a smirk.

'Any romantic interests I may or may not have do not matter. My priority is this city and its inhabitants and I cannot be seen embarking on a relationship which could potentially compromise the decisions I make.'

'So you're going to spend the rest of your life unhappy just to please the IOA?' John questioned.

'John, I am happy and I think it would be for the best if you and I forgot this conversation and what happened last night.' Elizabeth said walking over to him and squeezing his arm.

Realising that Elizabeth could not be persuaded to change her mind, John said. 'Fine, but I still want to know if you have 'romantic interest' in me.'

Elizabeth laughed at his cheekiness, 'Let's put it this way, if Caldwell hadn't disturbed us last night, I probably would have kissed you last night. I suppose in that respect, it's a good job he did.'

Satisfied that Elizabeth was attracted to him, John smiled at her and walked across the room and was about to leave when Elizabeth said. 'You never said what your feelings are regarding me.'

Without turning, John said, 'Let's put it this way, if you weren't so stubborn, I probably would have kissed you by now,' and continued walking.

Watching him until he was out of sight, Elizabeth smiled wistfully to herself.


	5. Chapter 5

Revealing feelings that he hadn't even been aware he had hadn't been John's intention when he had walked in Elizabeth's office. Although certain things made sense now, such as the anguish John had felt when Kolya had told him that she was dead and the pleasure he had enjoyed during their late night conversations on the Daedalus. In the midst of probing Elizabeth regarding her feelings to him, John had not expected her to fall into his arms and declare her undying love, but he hadn't expected such a resolute knock-back on her part. A feeling of disappointment haunted him, as he waited for his team to arrive at the gate, that Elizabeth had made it perfectly clear that there could never be more than friendship between them. Satisfaction could be taken, however, from her admitting that she did have feelings for him. As coded as the revelation had been.

Rodney was the first to arrive chewing on a flapjack as he joined John.

'Made it on time then?' Rodney mocked.

'Found time to go to the canteen again?' John hit back.

'Actually, Carson says it's important to maintain energy levels before a mission.' Rodney said smugly.

'Well you're certainly not in danger of them depleting.' John muttered.

Rodney ignored the comment and continued to enjoy his flapjack as Teyla and Ronon joined them looking slightly dishevelled. Realising what had just occurred between them, Rodney put the remainder of his flapjack in his pocket and John raised his eyebrows at him.

Elizabeth appeared on the stairs and smiled at the team, not giving any indication of the conversation she had shared only minutes previously with John.

'You ready, Colonel?' Elizabeth enquired.

'All present and correct.'

'Dial the gate.'

The team turned to face the gate and walked through it as the wormhole stabilised. Once on the planet, the team raised their guns but were met with no resistance, no people whatsoever. The entire surroundings were filled with what looked like thorny bushes and ahead they saw a river, along which there was a path.

'I think whatever it is we're looking for is down there.' John said and led the team down it.

They walked for about twenty minutes before reaching a deserted village of simple cottages which were in disrepair. John looked at his team before raising his weapon and opening the door of the nearest hut. Inside they saw a young woman sleeping on a blanket on the floor with a small boy held closely to her, also sleeping.

'It's a little early for a nap, don't you think?' John said rhetorically.

Returning his weapon, John bent over and shook the woman. Initially she did not rouse, but after shaking her a little harder she opened her eyes.

'Mendow? She asked weakly.

'No, we're explorers. Are you okay?' John asked observing her frail state.

'I need Mendow.'

'Okay, we can do that for you. Where is he?' John asked gently.

'In the village.' She said before closing her eyes again.

'Teyla, Ronon – go and see if you can find this guy.'

Teyla and Ronon nodded towards Sheppard and left the building.

'Do you think it's a good idea to let those two go off on their own?' Rodney asked.

John gave McKay a look, 'Do you think we should get Beckett hear? She doesn't seem too good.

'She just looks tired to me.'

'At half past eleven? No, the boy's asleep too – I think they're ill.'

'This Mendow she keeps referring to might be a Doctor.' Rodney suggested.

John considered the plausibility of this before nodding his head in agreement. Encountering an ill woman and child hadn't exactly been what John was expecting and he began to worry about the risk that his team could be at being in such close proximity.

In his ear, John heard Teyla's voice. 'Colonel Sheppard.'

'Teyla.'

'We are in the village and something is wrong. Every building seems to be inhabited by sleeping people. Are we to wake them?'

'Keep looking for this Mendow. Rodney and I will come and investigate. Sheppard out.'

'What's wrong?' Rodney asked.

'Teyla and Ronon have looked round the village and everybody is sleeping.'

'Have you considered the possibility that not everybody sleeps at night? Rodney asked as he followed John.

'I have, but why was she so desperate for us to find this Mendow and why didn't she stay awake to talk to us?'

'Might be a heavy sleeper?' Rodney suggested lamely.

Teyla had not lied – every window they looked into revealed one or more sleeping people. In the centre of the village, an old square statue with a small grid of holes in it stood. All ideas about trying to discover what the Ancients had visited this planet for had been forgotten as John estimated that about fifty people in the village were all lying asleep, and they hadn't met a single person who was awake yet. Reaching the outskirts of the village John and Rodney saw that one of the cottages had a symbol roughly carved on the door and made a bee-line for it. Rodney made to knock on it, but it opened at his touch. Inside a middle-aged man, wearing a white robe, was sleeping in a low chair surrounded by glass vials filled with an array of liquids.

'I'm betting this is our guy.' John said.

Hearing John's voice the man stirred slightly looked up at them. Registering their uniforms and weapons he sat up and stared in shock.

'Where did you come from?' He asked.

'Through the gate – we're explorers.' John explained.

'That is without possibility. I'm afraid the gate is no longer active.' He said.

'Well it looked pretty active when we came through it.' Rodney said.

'The gate was damaged when we came to the village – we have been unable to leave this planet since our arrival.'

'That's probably the DHD then – the gate is fine.' Rodney said.

'What brings you here?' The man asked, leaning back in his chair.

'We're just explorers. I don't suppose you know anybody called Mendow?' John asked.

'That would be I – how do you know of me?' Mendow asked suspiciously.

'There was a woman asking for you. A sick woman from what I could we could see.'

'We are all sick. Since we came here we are all sick. I have already witnessed the passing of several close friends.' Mendow said bitterly.

'When did you come here?' Rodney asked.

'Eight moons ago. The Wraith came to our home world and culled many of our people; the few of us that survived came here as there were records that this was a planet of the ancestors. We brought our belongings and all the food supplies we could manage. For a day we made homes and began to repair the buildings you will have observed, but after a day many were tired and struggling to work. My usual medicines did not work and now people are unable to awake even for food and others have met their death. I have been lucky and the illness has only just taken hold of me. I would advise that you leave this planet if it is at all possible.' Mendow said.

Nervously, John looked across at Rodney who looked terrified by the monologue. Something certainly wasn't right on this planet and they were both anxious to ensure that they could activate the gate and help the villagers with the hope of avoiding the epidemic themselves.

John reached to his radio, 'Teyla.'

'Colonel Sheppard.'

'We've found Mendow and there's something not right here. There's an illness going round and we think there might be a problem with the gate. Can you and Ronon meet us at the statue?'

'Of course Colonel.'

John turned to Mendow who was struggling to keep his eyes open, 'Hey. We're going to go and check the gate out, but we're sending some of our fellow explorers over here. Would you be okay to fill them in on everything you have told us and anything else you can think of?'

'That is an acceptable offer, although I cannot promise that I shall be awake on their arrival.'

Ronon and Teyla reached the statue before them and agreed to go and retrieve as much information as possible from Mendow whilst John escorted Rodney to the gate, patiently listening to him complain about the chances that they were both infected with the illness. Rodney's first move when they reached the gate was to frantically dial Atlantis which, to their surprise was successful. Sliding a confused sideways glance at Rodney, John entered his IDC. As the shield was lowered, Rodney made forward, but John held him back.

'We don't want to take this illness back to Atlantis. We're radioing in for Carson.'

'Oh great.' Rodney said.

'Colonel Sheppard.' Elizabeth said in his radio.

'Hey, we've got a bit of a problem. We've found a village and everybody in it is sick, so we could do with Carson coming to check it out – preferably in a hazmat suite.' John said.

'Are any of you showing any symptoms?' Elizabeth asked with a trace of worry in her voice.

'Not yet, but from what we've gathered it takes a day or so.'

'Carson will be with you in a half an hour, I'll arrange for him to run a full set of blood tests for all of you.' Elizabeth said.

'Thanks.'

'Be careful John. Weir out.'

Hearing the concern in her voice, only reminded John of the conversation they had shared in the morning and he felt a sad pang of longing as the wormhole closed.

A/N : Hey, this is my first fanfiction, so any feedback is really welcome. Also, thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Although Teyla and Ronon had been able to discover some useful information about the lifestyle led by the people named the Gorgurans, Mendow's pleasant mood had diminished as he learned that the team were living in the City of the Ancients. Believing that his people settling on Ancient ground had released a curse, he feared that the group's presence in the home of the ancestors could only make their situation worse, despite Teyla's insistence that they had lived safely on Atlantis for two years.

After leaving a biologist, Tom, to run some tests on the water from the river, Rodney and Carson returned to find Ronon pointing a gun at Mendow as Teyla pleaded with him to lower it.

'Ronon! Lower your gun immediately! That is an order.' John said.

'Your reaction only proves the guilt you are bearing.' Mendow said coldly.

Tightening his grip on his weapon, Ronon gritted his teeth and pointed the gun directly at Mendow's head causing Teyla to run forward and look into Ronon's eyes desperately.

'Ronon, you cannot do this. For me, you cannot do this.'

Hearing the fear in Teyla's voice brought him to his senses and he returned his gun before marching out of the room. Teyla made to go after him, before realising her position and looking to John for permission. Aware that Teyla was probably the only person who could restore Ronon's mood he granted it with a slight nod.

'I think it's time we a little chat about a few things.' John said turning to Mendow.

'There is nothing to say.' Mendow sniffed.

'Well I disagree. For a start I want to know why you lied about the gate.'

'In what way have I misled you?' Mendow asked.

'You said the gate wasn't working, and it seemed to be working just fine when we used it twice.'

'The gate is not working! For what reason would I lie?' Mendow asked furiously.

'You tell me.'

'When my people arrived here we set out to make this our home, but as the illness took the village we realised our best chance to find a cure was to ask for the help of our former trading partners but we were unable to. Do you believe I would allow my people to die if there was the chance of leaving?'

'I think he's telling the truth John.' Carson said.

'Rodney go and check the DHD out, see if there's anything wrong.' John commanded.

'But we just used it, its fi-'

'That's an order.'

An uncomfortable silence filled the room as Rodney left, and John looked over to Carson as a hint to approach Mendow about treating the villagers. If Mendow was going to answer their questions, John believed that Carson, as a fellow medicine man, would be the best person to ease Mendow's anger.

'Hello there, I'm Carson and I'm a doctor, I've brought some equipment with me that I believe can help establish the illness you're all suffering, if you permit.' Carson said.

'Your concern is acknowledged, but we will not be accepting any help that you can offer.' Mendow said before closing his eyes.

'But we might be able to help save your people's lives! Without my help, you will all die.' Carson said, raising his voice.

'And the punishment would fit the crime.'

'Crime? What crime?' John asked confused.

'The crime that we committed by settling here. This ground is ground of the ancestors – we have no permission to settle here and should not have taken such liberty with ancestral ground – I believe this illness is a result of our own actions and I recommend that you and your people leave the city of the ancestors before you face such a curse.' Mendow warned.

'So you're just going to sit around and wait to die?' John asked.

'I wish for you to leave – and do not make attempts to negotiate with my people. Without my support, no agreement can be reached.' Mendow warned before resolutely shutting his eyes for one final time.

'Please, if I can just – ' Carson begged.

'No.' Mendow cut him off coldly.

John looked to Carson and shrugged, not knowing how to approach such an unwelcoming man. Wanting to return to Teyla and Ronon to make some sense of how the falling out with Mendow occurred, her left the room and found them kissing by the statue. To alert them to his arrival without making things too uncomfortable, he cleared his throat gruffly and they pulled apart and looked at John, not quite meeting his eyes.

'What happened back there?' He asked.

'All was well, until I informed Mendow of our inhabitation of Atlantis and he became rather angered at our presence.' Teyla explained.

'That figures – he seems to think that taking Ancient land without asking is what's making them all ill.'

'Have you been able to reason with him?' Teyla asked.

'Not exactly, I've left Carson behind, but he's refusing to let him treat anybody.'

From the path entrance, Tom appeared at a marching pace with Rodney panting behind him. They looked up expectantly and Tom pushed a tablet under their noses and began explaining the structure of some bacteria in the water that they had never come across before.

'And what about you?' John asked Rodney.

'The whole DHDs completely messed up. Crystals in completely wrong places, but I dialled several uninhabited planets and it's working fine.' Rodney said, confusion etched across his face.

Instead of returning to Mendow's home (and risk provoking another argument), the team sat against the statue and ate their lunch of protein bars whilst waiting for Carson. The mood was rather downcast with the knowledge of the illness that surrounded them and that they were unable to help without Mendow's agreement. John was particularly relieved when Carson rejoined them – as infuriated as he was at Mendow's stubbornness – as it broke the silence that had taken hold of his usually chatty team.

After taking a blood sample from each of the team, Carson ran tests through the makeshift equipment that he had brought and studied the structure of the bacteria that has been discovered in the water. When the tests came back clear, Carson supported Tom's conclusion that the bacteria in the water had caused the illness, and they dialled the gate, lamenting the fact that they couldn't persuade Mendow to accept their help.

When they arrived back in Atlantis, Carson and Tom headed to the infirmary with Elizabeth's permission to create some simulations to study the effects of the bacteria. Despite Rodney's protestations, Elizabeth arranged to debrief the team immediately and promised to make it short so that Rodney could go in search of lunch as soon as possible. And she did, although watching her, John wondered if she's agreed to this for herself as opposed to Rodney. She was looking rather pale, and John had recalled seeing quite a stack of mission reports pilled high on her desk during their earlier conversation. He decided that when Elizabeth was satisfied with the information they had given her, that he would ask her for lunch.

John waited until the rest of his team had left to approach her, 'Hey. Do you wanna get some lunch?'

'I'm okay.'

'Oh, you've already had lunch?'

'No, but I was just going to get a sandwich and take it to the office.' Elizabeth shrugged.

'I could walk with you...' John suggested, feeling slightly put out.

'Look, John. I think we should try and put a bit of distance between us.'

'I thought we were okay.'

'We are, but I think it would be...easier for both of us to get over whatever is going on here if we tried to keep our relationship purely professional.'

A faint sense of panic began to take hold of John at the thought of losing Elizabeth altogether and he walked closer to her, hoping that he could persuade her to change her mind.

'Is that really necessary?' He asked softly with a hint of puppy dog eyes.

'I'm just trying to do the right thing.'

Irrationally, John asked, 'And will you be putting some distance between you and Caldwell?'

Elizabeth gave him an irritated look, picked up her laptop and made to leave the room.

John grabbed her arm as she went by, 'I shouldn't have said that. What I want to say is, well, if you and me can't be...then I'd like to at least be friends.' John said.

'I'd like that too John, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about this – you all morning, and I just think I need some time to get over this, and I think you do too.' Elizabeth said gently.

Considering the truth in what she had said John looked at her for several seconds then nodded and said, 'You're right.'

Elizabeth nodded back at him with a small smile, and moved her head forward to kiss him tenderly on the cheek, allowing her lips to dwell gently for a moment before she left the room.

Alone, John lifted his hand and touched the place where her lips had been just seconds before.


	7. Chapter 7

Although John knew Elizabeth had made the right decision regarding their relationship, he spent the rest of the day in a bitter, resenting mood. The bitter resentment was not focused on Elizabeth, but the situation. It was ludicrous that they couldn't even consider the idea of a relationship without the IOA breathing down their backs.

He had spent the day in solitude, shut away in his quarters staring into 'War and Peace' whilst not really seeing or caring what the words were. Eventually though, he had left his room in search of food and spending dinner with Ronon and Teyla, who were in the flushes of new-found love, only unintentionally worsened his mood. Eventually he had snapped, and left the mess hall with his dinner half eaten to go for a jog round the city in the rain. Despite releasing some of the frustration he was experiencing, the urge to try to talk Elizabeth into taking a chance with him remained, but he knew she would never risk it. Which he begrudgingly admired her for.

More meaningless hours were spent strolling round the city; anywhere other than being trapped with his own thoughts in his quarters. He wondered when his feelings for Elizabeth had begun to change. The storm. For the time he had thought that she was gone from him forever, he had been taken over by an eerie devastated anger and his only thought had been thwarting Kolya's plans and making him suffer to avenge Elizabeth's death. At the time, it had easily been passed off as care for his boss and friend, but with close consideration John realised that his reaction had been profoundly deeper compared to the loss of other friends.

John checked his watch to see if it was late enough to go to bed, but it was only ten to nine. As he passed he came up to the corridor where Teyla's quarters, he walked into Ronon and stopped to talk to him.

'Hey. Kissing the good lady goodnight?' John asked with a slight smile.

'Yeah. You wanna watch a film or something?'

'I was gonna go and do some mission reports actually – but another time.'

'Sure. I should probably get some rest for tomorrow anyway.' Ronon said, not seeming offended by John's brush off.

John felt guilty about avoiding Ronon when, in honesty, he didn't really have many mission reports to complete at all. He realised that for the sake of his team and the rest of Atlantis, he should probably stop moping around and try and get over his feelings for Elizabeth – or, in reality, just try to ignore them. He set off for his bed in the hope that everything would be better in the morning.

When John did wake up, things didn't seem anymore promising or easier than the night before, but he was determined not to let his feelings interfere with his work, and dressed and showered without a single disappointed thought. For the first time in weeks, he made it to breakfast and sat with Rodney who barely managed to string an understandable sentence together through mouthfuls of waffle. And he'd grabbed the last waffles, so John had been stuck with a fruit salad which left a lot to be desired.

Although Elizabeth's expression gave away the fact that she was shocked to see not just Rodney, but John, ten minutes early, she joked about the occurrence and gave no indication her discomfort around John. He considered the possibility that she'd changed her mind about giving one another some space, but recalled the firmness of her stance and the fact that her job meant she was a master of the poker face. For no apparent reason, Caldwell joined the meeting with a large mug of coffee for Elizabeth and an annoyingly smarmy smile in her direction. Without realising, John began tapping his fingers on the table through irritation, and didn't acknowledge Caldwell's presence as he took a seat next to him. Teyla was the next person to join the group, and was out of breath from running as she'd overslept. As John smiled at her, he noticed the bags she had under her eyes and wondered if the long days with the team and the late nights with Ronon were beginning to take their toll, although Ronon had managed to make it out of her room at a reasonable time the previous evening.

Elizabeth looked at Teyla and said, 'Is Ronon coming?'

'I have not seen him this morning.' Teyla explained.

Looking intently at Teyla she reached for her radio, 'Ronon. This is Doctor Weir, are you on the way to briefing?'

After a pause she looked around the team and reached for her radio again, 'Ronon. Are you on your way to morning briefing?'

After receiving no recognition, Elizabeth looked across to John and their eyes met, both of them having the same thought. A look of fear flashed in Elizabeth's eyes as she reached for her radio once again.

'Carson. This is Doctor Weir. I need a team down to Ronon's quarters.' Elizabeth said.

'Is there a problem?' Teyla asked standing up.

'I'm a little concerned that Ronon may be experiencing symptoms similar to those you witnesses yesterday, and I must admit that it is unlike you to oversleep Teyla. I think it would be a good idea for you all to make a visit to the infirmary.' Elizabeth said tensely.

'I feel fine.' John said.

'Oh God.' Rodney said with realisation.

'It may be nothing, but I'm not willing to take that risk.'

Disheartened, the team stood up and made their way to the infirmary followed by Elizabeth and Caldwell who were deep in conversation. Had the circumstances been different, John would have resented the fact that Elizabeth was confiding in Caldwell about the whole situation, but he was too worried to give it much thought.

In the infirmary, their bloods were immediately taken and they were left to sit waiting for any news. Ronon soon joined them; escorted by a medical team led by Carson who explained the difficulty they had had when trying to wake Ronon. After taking their temperatures, and asking them each questions about their usual sleeping patterns, Carson asked for a private conversation with Elizabeth and when they returned they both looked had nervous fearful looks on their faces. Elizabeth sat down on the chair and ran her hands through her hair before looking at them all in the most cheerful manner possible.

'Carson's finished running tests on the bacteria that was discovered in the river on the planet you visited yesterday and it looks like we were mistaken. The bacteria were harmless. We have no idea what we could be dealing with here.' Elizabeth said.

Seeing the fear in her eyes, John forgot all formalities and reached out to squeeze Elizabeth's hand; she looked up at him and smiled gratefully for the gesture.

Carson eventually returned with the test results and informed them that once again nothing had been detected in their blood, but despite their collective relief his concern remained and he requested that they all have full body scans. As the most serious symptoms had presented themselves in Ronon he was the first to undergo the scan, whilst they were left to endure more waiting without any idea of what could be going on. Tired of Rodney's panicked monologue about the symptoms he was suddenly experiencing, John left the group to pace the corridor just outside the infirmary. From experience, John knew that if Carson was still requesting tests then he was fairly certain that something was wrong.

After they had all undergone the scan, Carson came over to them with the results and they looked apprehensively at him.

'I'm afraid that the illness is now on Atlantis. The scans detected that synaptic activity is steadily decreasing at a low level which accounts for the sleepiness, if it continues there is nothing to stop the synaptic activity decreasing to the point where the brain stops working.'

'And we're all infected?' Elizabeth asked.

'Actually, no. Colonel Sheppard's, Doctor McKay's and my own synaptic activity is at the normal level. I believe the ancient gene may form some sort of immunity to it.' Carson said.

'We need a team to visit that planet – Carson could you lead a medical team with military assistance and see what you can find?' Elizabeth asked.

'Hey, I could – ' John began.

'No. Carson will lead the team. John, can I have a word in private?' Elizabeth said, leading him to the medical store cupboard.

John followed her curious about her intentions and said, 'I could have led that mission.'

'While I am ill, I would like you to take charge of the city.'

'Oh.'

'I know things are a little awkward between us at the moment, but I can't think of better person to run the city and your natural immunity helps.' Elizabeth said with a small smile.

'You're going to be fine.'

'Hopefully, but I'd still like to transfer power now just in case.'

'Carson will find a cure. He's the best guy we could have out there. Trust me.' John said, resting his hands on her shoulders.

'I do trust you John.'

John pulled her closely and wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair. Her own arms hugged his waist tightly and she rested her head against his chest. After a minute or so, Elizabeth pulled away and smiled at him.

'Friends?' She asked.

'Friends.'


	8. Chapter 8

As more inhabitants of the city fell to the illness, John couldn't imagine any position he would like to hold less than the leader of them – as temporary as he was. From within an hour of Elizabeth, Ronon and Teyla had been diagnosed, more and more cases were brought to his attention by the infirmary. And he was trying to keep the visits there down to a minimum as each time he saw Elizabeth and the anxiety she was suffering, his heart broke a tiny bit. And Caldwell, who had asked to be tested immediately, had instated himself on the bed beside Elizabeth on receiving positive test results. If he'd pulled the bed any closer to Elizabeth's he might as well have climbed in with her, John thought with annoyance.

The scheduled dial-in from the team visiting the Gorgurans had brought even worse news as Carson relayed that most were now dead, and those who weren't lay in a comatose state. Despite being morally against the idea of taking blood without permission, Carson had been persuaded into it by John who had pointed out that it may be the only way to establish what was causing the illness and save half of the city from death. John's persuasiveness had been pointless though as Carson's tests revealed no irregularity in the blood. If further investigation didn't shed light on anything, Carson was prepared to perform a full autopsy on one of the bodies.

Taking a moment away from the panic within the city, John sat at Elizabeth's desk and absent-mindedly handling the ornament he had given Elizabeth on her first birthday in Atlantis. He wasn't ready for this – dealing with each person's emotional anguish at the rapid nature of the illness. If Elizabeth hadn't asked him personally, he wouldn't have even put himself forward. John much preferred having an enemy to shoot; invisible one's such as the one making the city ill left him feeling helpless and scared.

As John tried to take his mind away from the illness and stood up to get some lunch, Rodney entered the office with two sandwiches and closed the door behind him looking far from his usual smug self.

'I've just been to the infirmary – it's completely full.' He said.

'I know.' John said gravely.

'At least nobody's dead yet, although it's only so much time before there is.'

'Nobody's going to be dying.' John growled.

'Oh come on – we have no idea what we're dealing with here.'

'Why don't we just sign their death warrants then?'

'I'm just trying to be realistic.' Rodney defended.

'We've got our best men out there trying to figure out what the hell is going on here; we're not just giving up.'

Rodney, who was in disagreement with John's optimistic view, decided to not to continue the conversation and instead handed John a sandwich before sitting down in front of Elizabeth's desk. Uncomfortable with taking Elizabeth's place, John also sat on a chair in front of the desk and unwrapped his sandwich. As he took a bite, he felt instantly nauseas and threw the sandwich into the bin amidst much protestation from Rodney.

From the gate room a wormhole opened and they both ran to the door, to see the team led by Carson returning. With a grave look Carson asked to debrief him immediately and the team were soon sat round Elizabeth's desk with Rodney asserting that he should be present and giving them little choice as he pulled up a chair behind Elizabeth's desk next to John.

'I take it you've found something.'

'Aye, and I'm afraid it's not good. We've discovered a secret ancient base that was used to develop ways to kill the wraith in the centre of the village.' Carson began.

'We spent hours in that village and we didn't see anything.' Rodney said.

'That's because you weren't looking for it – it's under the statue.' Lorne said.

'Carry on.' John said.

'One of the methods they used was this illness – it's airborne and virtually undetectable which means the wraith wouldn't have suspected the Ancients.'

'Well that's good, right?' John asked.

'It is, but there's more. The first experiment worked well – they infected a hive ship and didn't hear anything about it. That is until they were contacted by a group of people who were experiencing similar symptoms. The problem we have is that they only intended the illness to work against the Wraith – feeling tired to the point of death, they'd contact another ship and the disease would be spread, but the wraith tried to combat the illness by feeding and in the process spread the illness throughout several planets.'

'So what did the Ancients do?'

'They trapped them on the planets to stop the illness spreading by altering the crystals in the DHDs so only people with the ancient gene could use them.' Rodney said with realisation.

'That's why Mendow said they couldn't use the gate.' John nodded. 'That doesn't make sense though – why not just cure them?'

'Because they couldn't – they believed that they had formulated the illness to only affect Wraith, but in reality only those with the ATA gene were immune.'

'Did the Gorgurans discover the base? Is that how they got ill?' John asked.

'No, we think that the illness began to be released through the vents in the statue once they arrived – in the way that the city came to life when we arrived.' Carson explained.

'Right. Where do we go from here?' John asked Carson.

Carson looked back at him uneasily, 'I'm still working on that. The only way of preventing is the ATA gene, and the people who are infected are unable to have the gene.'

After half an hour of throwing around suggestions which Carson revealed to be impossible, John dismissed the team and wished he could have a large glass of whiskey to calm his nerves. There was no doubting the fact any more – this was deadly serious. Even the best personnel in the city had no idea about how to develop a treatment for people whose bodies didn't accept the gene. Although John knew that the people who were ill needed to be informed about the situation, he didn't move as the situation would become reality then. The people who were currently ill would become people who were dying.

John's mind drifted onto Elizabeth. How the hell was he going to tell her? Telling everybody else was going to be difficult, but telling her would be something else. For the first time since his pre-teens, John silently prayed to God that Carson would find a cure.

As he arrived in the over-crowded infirmary, his eyes immediately went to Elizabeth who was doing a Sudoku as Caldwell rambled on beside her. Hearing the doors close behind him, Elizabeth looked up and rolled her eyes in Caldwell's direction with a small grin which John could only return in the form of a grimace. He considered telling her alone first, but realised that doing so and seeing her pain would make it near impossible for him to inform everybody else. Taking his place in the centre of the infirmary, he cleared his throat and informed the patients of the dire situation they were in, trying not to provoke a mass of panic. As he ended his speech with the promise that Carson was putting all efforts into developing a cure, he heard sobbing from around him and saw the devastation etched across people's faces, trying desperately to avoid the face of the one person he really cared about.


	9. Chapter 9

After leaving the infirmary, John headed straight for Elizabeth's office and began looking over the details of the mission report that Lorne had left on the desk searching for any minor detail that they could have missed. After reading the document for the third time, he put his head in his hands unable to continue reaffirming the truth. Whilst John knew he needed to be strong – and for all appearances he was – there was no escaping the fact that there was nothing he could do and would forever be remembered as the person who told them all that they were dying.

The office door opened and John looked up expecting to see Rodney, but instead jumped out of his seat, face-to-face with the owner of it.

'Making yourself comfortable, I see.' Elizabeth said with a smile.

'Sorry – I was thinking.' John apologised.

'It's not a problem John – you're the boss now. I wanted to talk to you.'

'Go ahead.'

'Not here – somewhere more private.'

They agreed to talk in John's quarters, and they walked together through the city, choosing not to use the transporters and without saying a word to one another. Feeling unreasonably nervous, John began to whistle to interrupt the ghostly silence that filled the corridors. Elizabeth, for her own part, was playing with her hands to occupy herself until they reached the door and John let them in. Once inside, John hastily picked up the dirty washing which was on the floor and straightened his bed so that Elizabeth could sit down.

Sitting down, she laughed and said, 'Looks like you could do with requesting a maid when the Daedalus next brings supplies.'

'I've been a little busy; this room is usually spotless. In fact, I've been nominated for awards for my tidying skills.' John teased.

'Somehow I find that hard to believe.'

John sat down beside her and she looked away shyly.

'What did you want to talk about?' He asked softly.

'I wanted to tell you that you were very brave today – that couldn't have been easy what you did in there.' Elizabeth said holding his gaze.

'I was just trying to do my job.'

'Nevertheless, you did well, John.' Elizabeth said squeezing his hand.

John manoeuvred his hand to hold hers, and felt his mouth begin to go dry. There were so many unsaid things from the last two years that he wanted to tell her, but somehow it felt wrong to break the peaceful harmony between them. He knew she must have been terrified about the fate that she could be facing, but yet she was here comforting him who had demons which paled in comparison to hers.

She looked into his eyes and studied his face intently before taking a breath and say, 'John, there's another reason why I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to tell you that,' Elizabeth looked down and then returned her eyes to his, 'I love you.'

John immediately ran his hands through her brown curls and pulled her mouth to his. Experiencing such fulfilment, John was able to forget about the fear that occupied him and pushed her into a lying position, her arms slipping around his neck, tightly holding her against her body. Instinctively, John began to remove her clothes, kissing his way down her body which began actively removing his own attire and reached out to him hungrily. After teasing her body with his tongue and hands, he looked into her eyes and she nodded at him, and kissed him as she wrapped her legs around his body pulling him into her.

After they had both recovered from the breathless, weak, after-sex state they lay under the covers with John hugging her body close to his. They looked at each other and grinned, unable to suppress it.

'I didn't say before, but I want you to know that I love you too.' John said seriously.

Elizabeth responded by kissing him once again and he held her even closer. John smiled into her hair, relieved that he could finally be honest about his feelings without worrying about being rejected. And he was happy. He knew it wouldn't last, and as soon as they opened the doors all the previous worries would flood back into his life. But until then, he could enjoy being part of a couple.

'Now I don't like to brag, but you should get some sleep.' He said innocently.

'I can think of things I would rather do.' Elizabeth said, beginning to stroke his chest.

'Well that makes two of us, but I am your boss now so you have to listen to my orders.'

'John, you cannot pull that one on me.' Elizabeth said pointedly.

'That may be true, but I still think you should get some rest.'

Elizabeth's hand slid down his body but he grabbed hold of, resenting that he had to do so.

'Elizabeth.' He said warningly.

'John.'

'You need to sleep.'

'Why?' Elizabeth pouted.

'Because you're ill, and I know you're tired. Although tired in a very attractive way.' He said smoothly.

'John, just for tonight can we forget that I'm ill, and leave the real world until the morning?'

'If that's what you want.'

This time John took the time to fulfil Elizabeth's every desire, free of the frantic passion he had felt before, and took great pleasure in the way she moaned his name and squirmed under his touch. The great pleasure that John took from Elizabeth's enjoyment was nothing though to the pleasure she was capable of letting him experience. Each touch was sensual, and they become embroiled in a battle to evoke more pleasure in the other, before giving into their desires again.

Despite her earlier protestations, Elizabeth soon fell asleep and feeling content he soon followed her lead and enjoyed his first full night's sleep since arriving on Atlantis.


	10. Chapter 10

When John awoke, he found that he was alone in the bed. The only indication that the bed had been shared was a small kink in the pillow where Elizabeth had laid. John nuzzled into the kink and breathed in the scent of her shampoo, remembering the previous night. Whilst he could think about that and enjoy the memory, he didn't need to worry about the illness that had spread throughout Atlantis.

That was until he heard his radio crackle into life and Rodney's voice could be heard through it. With a groan, he reached out for the radio and was met with an influx of scientific data that meant nothing to him, and he couldn't even nod along over the radio. Not willing to endure any more of Rodney's babble, he told him that he'd meet him in the mess hall where he could face him with his morning coffee. He had intended to stop by the infirmary to make sure Elizabeth was okay, but Rodney had sounded pretty urgent.

Rodney was already waiting for him when he arrived and ushered him over to a table before he could even grab a coffee.

'I stayed up and ran some tests last night and I think I was right – I really think we could use the chair for power.' Rodney said excitedly.

'Whoa – when did I give the okay for you to run these tests?' John asked.

'Umm, well, you didn't. I just assumed –'

'What? That now I'm in charge you can do what you want? Because you can't. And more to the point aren't you supposed to be helping Carson?' John asked in a raised voice.

'I have been, this was just a little side project.' Rodney said guiltily.

'Because you think everyone who's infected is a lost cause, right?'

'Well I wouldn't go that far but it's not looking good...' Rodney admitted.

'No it isn't, when you'd rather go off and do what you want when you could be helping save people's lives.' John shouted, as he stood up.

With a final irritated look at Rodney he stood up to leave. This morning of all mornings, he really couldn't handle Rodney's arrogance or pessimism. Instead of grabbing some breakfast, like he knew he should, he headed for the infirmary to check on the progress that was being made, and Elizabeth. He was surprisingly nervous about facing her; things were different now, they couldn't change that, but he still didn't think it would be a good idea to make things public at a time like this.

As he arrived in the infirmary he realised that it was even more crowded than the day before. The first person he saw was Teyla who was soundly asleep despite the worried hush of chatter surrounding her. Rodney was right – it really wasn't looking good. Over the heads of people, he tried looking for Elizabeth, but by the time he'd been spotted by Carson he'd still had no success. Due to all the efforts he was putting in to finding a cure, Carson looked exhausted with dark rings forming under his eyes.

'Morning.' Carson said.

'Morning. Do you have any good news for me?'

'That depends on your definition of good news. We've been doing some tests on the virus and we now know a lot more about its properties and what we're up against here.'

'And that's good, right?'

'It is, unfortunately we're no nearer to finding a cure yet. The Ancient data that was left behind is sparse at best and we're down on people – Rodney was supposed to be helping but seems to have gone AWOL.'

'He's in the mess hall,' John said, 'Surely there must be some element of the Ancient gene that makes carriers immune, is there no way of working out which bit it is?'

'I've got people working on that at the moment, but it's going to be a few hours yet.'

'Thanks Carson. Keep me updated. Umm, you don't have any idea where Elizabeth is, do you?' John asked.

'Aye, I think she's in the bed next to the store room.' Carson said, as he began looking at cell structures on a tablet.

As John reached the bed next to the store-room, the first thing he saw was Caldwell. Next to Elizabeth. With his arm around Elizabeth. A surge of jealousy spiked through John and as he reached the bed and he stood over the pair trying to look authoritative. Seeing him, Elizabeth leaned forward and smiled at him, a gesture which wasn't returned.

'I just thought I'd check how you're doing.' John said coldly.

'All things considered, not too bad.' Caldwell said.

'I can see that.'

'And just what is that supposed to mean Colonel Sheppard?' Caldwell asked.

'Nothing. How are you feeling Elizabeth?'

'I'm okay, tired, but that's to be -'

'You didn't answer my question.' Caldwell said.

'What?' John asked with irritation.

'What did you mean?' Caldwell said with an arrogant glint in his eye.

'You just seem to be getting pretty cosy.' John admitted, avoiding Elizabeth's eye.

'John -' Elizabeth began.

'And why is that such a problem?' Caldwell said over Elizabeth.

'I didn't say it was.' John said, through gritted teeth.

'It doesn't sound that way.'

'I just came over here to check on a friend, I wasn't expecting some sort of interrogation.' John said, rounding on Caldwell.

'If I didn't know you better, I'd say you're jealous.' Caldwell said.

'Jealous?' John asked as calmly as he could.

'Jealous. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're so used to being the one who gets the attention round here, that you can't take the idea that _I _could be making somebody happy.'

'Making a move on a sick lady? That's your idea of making somebody happy?' John spat.

Caldwell stood up and squared up to John, looking him straight it the eye. John really didn't want to get into a fight with everybody watching, but if Caldwell continued being so disrespectful to not just himself, but Elizabeth, he was sure as hell going to get one.

Elizabeth leapt up and stood between the men. 'I may not be leader of this expedition currently, but I am not going to stand by and watch you make fools of yourselves. People are sick; you should be worrying about them – not your hurt, male pride. And Steve, whatever impression I -'

Elizabeth was cut off as her eyes rolled and she fell to the ground. Immediately, John lifted her limp body in his arms. She was still breathing. Thank God. He lay her body on the bed and shouted for Carson, having no idea what to do, but suffering with the knowledge that this was his fault.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

As Carson rushed over and tended to Elizabeth, John flopped into the seat next to her and put in his hands without taking in anything that was going on. He had messed up. And Elizabeth was probably never going to forgive him. Not for stepping in and defending her, but for letting his personal feelings affect his position on Atlantis. Maybe she had been right when she'd insisted that they couldn't be together; his feelings for her had compromised him. But, now he had had a glimpse of what being with her could be, he wasn't so willing to turn his back on that.

'She's fainted. Might I ask what was going on here?' Carson said.

'Just a difference of opinion between me and Caldwell – Elizabeth stepped in.' John lied.

'The last thing she needs right now is any undue stress. I'm going to have to ban you from the infirmary if it happens again.' Carson said with a smile.

Expertly, Carson took bloods and checked her heart rate, looking disturbed in the process. After taking a few notes about her condition he reached for his radio and asked for a team to move her to a side-ward.

'Hey – is everything okay?' John asked.

'I'm not going to lie to you John, I'm worried. Elizabeth's very weak at the moment; she was already exhausted and she missed dinner last night and breakfast this morning. I'm putting her under stricter monitoring for the time being.' Carson said gravely.

'Is there anything I can do?' John said, standing up.

'Unfortunately not, son. Just get some rest – you're looking tired.' Carson said kindly.

John stayed by Elizabeth's side until she was wheeled away. A lump formed in his chest as he realised how small and frail she looked and the door closed behind her. Get a grip; other people need you, John told himself. But, he didn't feel directly responsible for the floundering condition of the others – he cared, of course he cared, but there was nothing more he could do for them other than encourage the people who knew how to help them. With Elizabeth though, he had consciously weakened her through his own selfish actions. Firstly, lust and secondly, jealousy. And he couldn't do anything to help her – he'd been persuaded by her into believing he was helping last night, but having sex was an easy way to avoid talking about the fact that they could be torn apart before ever really having a chance. This mindset was confused by the knowledge that Elizabeth wouldn't have allowed them to have last night if she hadn't been terrified about the fate she was facing.

Once he was in Elizabeth's office he closed the door and picked up one of the reports that had been left on the desk. Paperwork. He hated it. Elizabeth was constantly chasing him down for mission reports and they were generally always late when they did get completed, not that she ever reprimanded him too harshly for it. The least he could do though was take off some of Elizabeth's load in preparation for if she got back. When she got back. Carson would find a cure, there was no other choice. Not one that he was willing to let himself think about anyway.

John spent the afternoon meticulously working through reports and order-forms for Earth, trying to immerse himself in something that didn't leave him feeling numb inside. He missed lunch and continued typing, despite Carson's observation that he needed rest. Anything that he could do for Elizabeth was going to be done. He looked up at the clock. Five to four. Rodney and Carson were due to give him an update in five minutes. Something which he wasn't looking forward to; if there had been a breakthrough he would have been radioed immediately, suggesting that he was going to be facing even more bad news.

Carson was the first to arrive and almost collapsed into the chair in front of the desk with a weak smile to John. As soon as the meeting was over, he was going to sanction Carson for a break which involved a meal and a sleep. Once Rodney arrived, their meeting began.

'We've been continuing our research and we're still some time away from getting anything that can help us develop a vaccination.' Carson said wearily.

'That suggests that you're making progress though.' John said hopefully.

'We are – but not nearly quickly enough.' Rodney said.

'And the infected?' John asked.

'They're all getting steadily worse. We're scanning every patient twice a day and the results are showing what we feared – the more the illness progresses the faster the synaptic activity decreases.' Carson said.

'_I _happened to have an ingenious idea to slow down this process though.' Rodney said smugly.

'Aye, I have to say it's the first time I've ever prescribed Sudoku books. Rodney came upon the idea that we should try and keep the brains as active as possible and it seems to be having some success in slowing down the deterioration.'

'Great. And Elizabeth?' John asked.

'She's better. She came round quite soon after you left and although she's still very weak, she's eaten and seems a bit perkier.' Carson said.

'That's good. Did you make any progress with establishing which part of the Ancient gene causes the immunity?' John said.

'We did some simulations this afternoon and it's almost like the gene neutralises the effect of the illness which provides the immunity, which is the problem we face because we're trying to develop an immunisation which has these properties, but is accepted, unlike...'

Rodney suddenly stood up and began clicking his fingers urgently. 'I think I've got it. We need to get to the infirmary. I'll explain as we walk.'

John and Carson immediately stood up to follow a marching Rodney who proceeded to explain his idea through great breaths of air.

'The problem we have is that the people who have the illness don't have the Ancient gene and haven't been successful in receiving the ATA gene, but the answer has been under our noses all along! The ATA neutralises the effects of the illness; not being a carrier of the gene. Therefore, if we inject the people who have got this illness – we really should think of a name for it, it's getting tiresome calling it -'

'Rodney!' John said.

'Sorry – anyway, if we inject people with the ATA gene, that in itself should work to neutralise the illness and everybody would be cured.'

'That might actually work.' Carson said, excitedly.

Once in the infirmary, Carson organised his staff to distribute the gene among the sick whilst Rodney explained what was happening in a way that implied that the breakthrough had been all down to him and him alone causing John to roll his eyes behind him.

The first treatment was to be given to Ronon as he had been the first diagnosis. Carson injected him with the gene before taking him to the scanner. Carson's body was hiding the screen, so nobody could decipher whether or not the gene had been successful in combating the illness. Collectively, the whole infirmary waited in silence as Carson monitored the synaptic activity. Each and every pair of eyes were focused on Carson's back.

'It's worked! It's bloody worked!' Carson said.

Ronon immediately jumped off the table and enveloped Rodney in a bear hug which Rodney accepted awkwardly. Partly from relief, John laughed. It was all going to be all right.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

It had been two days since Rodney's idea had turned out to be a success. People were beginning to return to their roles within the city after two days of relaxation which involved finishing the remains the Valentine's Ball champagne and generally spending two days in a constant stream of party. Days which had continued the stream of good news, with Teyla and Ronon announcing their intention to marry. John was genuinely delighted for them and had been assigned the role that was equivalent to best man in Athosian proceedings. He only wished his own life could be as simple.

So far, John and Elizabeth hadn't been able to find a moment to speak to one another about what the future held for them and, in part, they had been avoiding each other. When they spoke, the conversation would need to address the nature of the relationship that existed between them and John wasn't overly hopeful that the result would be that they could be nothing more than friends. Although, he would rather be friends than suffer the alternative that had been facing them.

John's role as the leader of Atlantis had come to an end though and he knew he was going to have to face Elizabeth. She was on the balcony, leaning over the rails when he found her. As the door slid open, she turned and smiled at him before looking back out onto the ocean. He walked over to her and handed her the final report for the outbreak of illness.

'I officially return the leadership of Atlantis to your safe hands. Can't say I'm disappointed.' He said.

'What makes you say that?' Elizabeth asked with a smile.

'Too much paperwork. Not to mention, my moment in the spotlight was rather over-shadowed by a deathly illness.'

'You did a great job, John. If you ever need a reference, you know where I am.' She said with a cheeky smile.

'I was kinda hoping to stick around actually.'

'Good.' Elizabeth said.

John watched with a half-smile as Elizabeth flicked through the report. Sensing him looking at her she looked up and studied him for several seconds.

'What?'

'Nothing.' He said.

'I spoke to Colonel Caldwell this morning.' She said.

'And?'

'I explained to him, as diplomatically as possible, that I don't think it would be a good idea me to have a relationship with him; mainly because I'm not attracted to him.' She said, watching for John's reaction.

'I'm sure he'll be fine.' John said dismissively.

'I hope so.' Elizabeth said with a smile.

'Anything else you wanted to discuss?' John asked nonchalantly.

'Actually yes. Although I suppose you already knew that. Obviously, in the last week, things have changed between us and I meant everything I said.' Elizabeth said.

'Why do I sense a 'but'?' John said.

'John, the IOA would never accept us being a couple – they're already jumping on every mistake I make – this would be the final nail in the coffin. I can't put us both in that position. I'm sorry.' She said, putting her hand over his.

'Yeah, me too.' He said, squeezing her hand.

They both looked out over the ocean together for several minutes, their hands remaining entwined. John suddenly looked at their hands then directly at Elizabeth. She turned to face him.

'Say, hypothetically, that the IOA or anybody for that matter somehow didn't get informed if we did – hypothetically – start a relationship, would that be a problem?' John said with a pout.

'Just what are you suggesting Colonel?'

'Completely hypothetical.' He said, mysteriously.

'If that were the case, hypothetically, would you like to meet me in my quarters in ten minutes?' She said with a seductive raise of the eyebrow.

He quickly kissed her passionately on the lips, 'Make it mine – they're nearer.'

With a final kiss, he left the balcony. Elizabeth checked her watch, and then smoothed her hair, excitedly looking forward to the next chapter in her life.

**A/N: This is it! I hope everybody liked it and got the happy ending they wanted. Please read and review.**


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